New PBS Documentary About Queen Elizabeth Includes the ‘Most Exciting Night’ of Her Majesty’s Life

This Friday, May 8, marks the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Queen Elizabeth will give a rare address to mark this historic occasion, and you can prep for her speech by catching the premiere of PBS's new documentary: The Queen at War.

The movie, which debuts on Tuesday, May 5, at 8 p.m. EST on PBS, focuses on the entirety of WWII as well as the monarchy's role in the conflict. It even reveals footage of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret during their relocation to the English countryside during the Blitz.

"She was evacuated, her home was bombed, she lost a family member and she volunteered to help the war effort," the PBS description reads.

The documentary features interviews with the people who were there, alongside historians, journalists and royal commentators.

It also includes rare footage of the royal family during and after King George VI's historic announcement that Germany had surrendered to the Allies which Elizabeth's father gave from the balcony of Buckingham Palace. Afterward, then-Princess Elizabeth and her sister persuaded their parents to allow them to join the throngs of people celebrating in the streets of London, an experience the queen later called "the most exciting night of her life."

Speaking to Town & Country, The Queen at War executive producer Chris Granlund called the moment "unprecedented."

"There is no existing footage of the Queen in the crowd that we know of. She was in uniform; she was with a small group, but we certainly didn't find any," he said.

Granlund went on to say that this was probably the first time the queen was allowed to wander freely in a crowd of this size without the ceremonial hand-shaking and waving, calling it "quite extraordinary."

If you're going to be drinking margs and eating tacos instead of glued to the TV on May 5 (although, who says you can't do both?!), you can preorder the DVD from PBS.org for $20. It will ship on May 26, 2020.

But, if you're like us, you won't be able to wait that long. We'll be in front of the telly (with marg in hand, obvs).